Saturday, April 24, 2010

Some people find the naming of things to be incidental, uninteresting or even irrelevant, but from a sociological perspective the struggle to find the "right" name is critical to understanding people's interests, concerns and claims over domains of knowledge and practice. (For example, to declare the name of something an issue that needs correction, or as a problem to be solved, can be seen as the first step in what Michel Callon and Bruno Latour have called a sociology of translation--the successful result of which comprises an actor-network.) And I have a particular research interest in Pervasive Computing, the "Internet of Things" and/or the "Web of Things" as contested domains of knowledge and practice, so I was really interested in a conversation I followed on Twitter this morning.

Now, it's actually pretty hard to sequentially represent a Twitter conversation between several people so the transcription below only approximates how it unfolded in real-time. Plus, there were participants whose Twitter accounts are not public, and so not included here. But the perceived issues of the debate are what's most interesting to me, along with who or what drops out of conversation.

tomcoates: Trying with @bobbiejohnson to think of a better phrase than 'internet of objects' for pervasively networked, web of data aware devices...

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Of moggies and pussies

In New Zealand and the UK, domestic cats - and especially outdoor cats - are called "moggies." I was curious about the etymology of the word, and a quick look-up turned into an hour reading about the historical associations amongst cats, women and (by extension) effeminate men in colloquial English.

In terms of my current research, I'm fascinated by how "moggie" has been applied to both stray cats and stray women. For example, "moggie" as slattern or slut points at a socially inappropriate woman, a woman out-of-line, a behaviour out-of-place. "Moggie" as unkempt streetwalker further conjures women out-of-bounds, lacking in both physical and social pedigree. To later apply this term to an animal isn't surprising if we believe that the earlier sense stripped a woman of her humanity. The use of "moggie" to refer to creatures not receiving care (they live on the streets) nor being worthy of care (they are sub-human) also fits with the word's earlier use. Similarly, the early historical use of "puss" and "pussy" to describe fickle, spiteful or sly women created cultural associations between women, animals and the unpleasant qualities of each. Although "puss" and "pussy" moved away from such negative connotations and became terms of endearment for gentle, pretty and playful women, they also became derogatory terms for men whose behaviour was deemed to be overly feminine.

All of which is to say that, with one exception, both "moggie" and "pussy" have most often suggested a cultural status that is hard to place, if not entirely out of place. In trying to locate or situate outdoor cats in cultural and spatial contexts, these words and histories generate interesting connections and possibilities. I'm not sure where they'll take me, but I'm pretty sure the curiosity won't kill me.

1. a. colloq. (orig. and chiefly Sc. and Eng. regional). Originally: a girl, a young woman. Later: an untidily dressed woman. Now rare.

1648 W. LILLY Astrol. Predict. 60 Expect not so fair an enemy as Cromwel, nor such fair quarter as now is given thee: Jockey, Jemmy, and Moggy thy she-souldier, must than all to the sword. c1680 Scotch Moggy's Misfortune (broadside), With her Chearful Hops, that Shakum Giue will bury his Wife, and then make Moggy a happy Mother. 1699 E. WARD London Spy I. VII. 15 In another Hut, a parcel of Scoth [i.e. Scotch] Pedlars and their Moggies, Dancing a Highlanders Jig. 1886 R. E. G. COLE Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincolnshire, Moggy, a slattern, dressed out untidily: ‘She did look a moggy.’ 1980 AA Bk. Brit. Villages 263/3 At Ickwell Green..the May Queen is accompanied by moggies (raggedly dressed women).

1911 J. W. HORSLEY I Remember xi. 254 Cockney slang..‘moggies’ for cats. 1958 L. LITTLE Dear Boys I. xii. 211 ‘Do you mean you actually killed them [sc. cats]?’ Sid asked disgustedly. ‘That's right,’ said Jake.., ‘that's what we did. Dozens of the bloody things... Until we ran out of moggies.’ 1966 New Statesman 27 May 788/2 He dries his hands on a moggie and uses a kitten to blot a false death certificate; ‘just a fur ball, it's nothing,’ he says. 1967 New Scientist 4 May 257/2 In the desert, there are several little wild cats superficially indistinguishable from domestic moggies. 1973 People's Jrnl. (Inverness & Northern Counties ed.) 4 Aug. 4/3 Oh, and before I leave this topic of pussies, my neighbour across the lane also had a good laugh from the moggie next door to her. 1994 Cats 5 Aug. 7/2 Some lucky owners may have a moggie which looks like a Maine Coon, or any other pedigree breed.

PUSS, N.

1. a. A conventional proper or pet name for a cat, freq. (sometimes reduplicated) used as a call to attract its attention.

a1530 J. HEYWOOD Iohan & Tyb (Brandl) 590, I haue sene the day that pus my cat Hath had in a yere kytlyns eyghtene. 1565 Kyng Daryus (Brandl) 181, I can fere the knaues with my grannams Cat. Pusse pusse, where art thou? 1568 Newe Comedie Jacob & Esau II. iv, in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1874) II. 223 Esau left not so much [of the pottage] as a lick for puss, our cat. 1591 R. PERCYVALL Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. s.v. Miça, The terme to call a cat, as we saie ‘pusse’. 1648 R. HERRICK Hesperides sig. L6, Foretelling..weather by our aches... True Calenders, as Pusses eare Washt o're, to tell what change is neare. 1712 E. COOKE Voy. S. Sea 214 The Spaniards, when they call them, say Miz, as we do Puss. 1792 S. T. COLERIDGE Coll. Lett. (1956) I. 25 Puss like her master is a very gentle brute, and I behave to her with all possible politeness. 1801 S. OWENSON Poems 73 View puss by fire her station take. 1897 B. STOKER Dracula vii. 89 The dog..was in a..fury..its hairs bristling out like a cat's tail when puss is on the war-path. 1956 Post-Standard(Syracuse, N.Y.) 4 Oct. 1/2 Mrs. Doctor looked out the window and poor Puss was stretched stark dead on the lawn. 2000 Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat & Chron.(Nexis) 20 May 1B There is an unwelcome silence at home now that my Puss is gone... I am planning to adopt another kitty as soon as I can. 2004 Daily Mail (Nexis) 13 We ‘know’ when the cat is out there waiting to come in. Open the doorn - Here, ‘puss, puss, puss’ - but there she is already.

b. colloq. (orig. nursery). A cat. Cf. PUSS-CAT n., PUSSY n. 2a.

1598 J. FLORIO Worlde of Wordes, Muccia..a yoong cat or kitlin or pusse to play with. 1605 G. CHAPMAN et al. Eastward Hoe IV. i, When the famous fable of Whittington and his pusse shal be forgotten. 1694 P. A. MOTTEUX Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) IV. xvii. 71 The Bite of a She Puss [Fr. chatte]..was the Cause of his Death. 1744-5 MRS. DELANY in Life & Corr. (1862) 342 Have I told you of a pretty tortoiseshell puss I have? 1818 R. HERBER Let. 31 July in A. Heber Life (1830) I. xv. 490 On being asked whether New Zealanders eat cats, he answered ‘New Zealanders eatee hog, him..eatee warrior and old woman, but him no eatee puss!’ 1835 W. COLTON Ship & Shore 192 Our unfortunate puss had been taken on board at Malaga, and since her embarkation we had not been visited by one favorable breeze. c1840 W. E. FORSTER in Reid Life (1888) I. v. 135 A most delightful black kitten..; a most refined, graceful, intellectual, amusing puss. 1935 R. GRIFFITHS Imagination in Early Childhood x. 183 The puss saw the rat, and went like this (crouching) and the rat didn't see 'im. 1993 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) 5 June 5/4 He said the puss was shot Wednesday night and was found..by workers from Irvington Animal Control the following morning.

3. a. A girl or woman, esp. one exhibiting characteristics associated with a cat, as spitefulness, slyness, attractiveness, playfulness, etc. Originally used as a term of contempt; in later use also as a pet name or term of endearment. Cf. PUSSY n. 1a. Now rare.

1. a. Chiefly colloq. A girl or woman exhibiting characteristics associated with a cat, esp. sweetness or amiability. Freq. used as a pet name or as a term of endearment. Cf. PUSS n.1 3, PUSSYCAT n. 3.

There is all sorts of interesting work here worth taking at look at, and I'll be presenting some related research at the Media in Action Conference in June.

In related news, I'm almost done revisions for an essay on the affective politics of urban computing and locative media for Ulrik Ekman's forthcoming book Throughout: Art and Culture Emerging with Ubiquitous Computing. And, for the last of my dissertation-related research, I've got a journal article currently under review. I'll post both pieces here as soon as I can.

"We also are seeing what really excites me as a writer and researcher which is new ways to write and publish within maps and their augmentations, so not just locative narrative but even...a literary journal in the augmentation where Route 66 once ran or inside an immersive visualization of an abandoned building that is placed on its space in the map."

Dr. Anne Galloway

Drawing from a background in the social sciences, I'm interested in connections between material, spatial and cultural practices. My current research critically investigates new technologies in terms of embodied practice, material, visual and discursive culture.

My teaching interests and experience include social studies of science and technology, art and design research, material culture studies, cultural theory and qualitative research methods. I currently teach courses in VUW School of Design's Culture+Context programme.

You can find loads of images and links at plsj field notes, and I like listening to last.fm while I write. Otherwise, I love reading comics and graphic novels; I prefer my ale bitter or pale; I believe my cat Enid Coleslaw is the best cat in the world; and I think that the coolest superhero power is shape-shifting.